The American Sausage: From Dregs to Riches

RWS200 Blog

[donmichaelpoyaoan]

Blog #10: Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggety Dog!

My focus for the essay was the American Dream in regards to its role in politics. I figured this out through the help of Mrs. Flewelling. My sources and research thus far would lead me to choosing this focus in particular. Other alternatives would include freedom and the American Dream, or the value of the American Dream in sustaining the nation. I would see the focus of politics to best fit my research paper as I have found some texts that would back up the aforementioned.

I learned from American Dream in the 21st Century that the end of a certain political system (the Roman Republic in this case) does not necessarily mean the American Dream dies with it. Through reading the first chapter of the book, I would learn that the American Dream would come to be in politics as a complete thought brought forth by the public. In reference to Fisher’s scholarly journal on reaffirming and subverting the American Dream, President Nixon and Senator McGovern would have two polar opposite interpretations of the American Dream that would surprisingly go together when coexisting. Fisher put forward the point of having multiple interpretations of this dream, which individuals should see as necessary for the world to prosper. In its relation to politics, one candidate would subvert the other as a means to reaffirm their own, the dreams being either materialistic or moralistic.

Additional things I learned about the role of the American Dream in politics was the competitiveness of candidates in campaigning. Candidates would use the American Dream as a campaigning strategy in order to increase their chances of being elected. In a research article by UC Berkeley professor Jacob M. Grumbach, he writes about how members of Congress use the American Dream in their speeches. They would include the term “American Dream” to entice an audience of people that would relate closely to their social background. You could say this would be somewhat rhetorical in their approach as they provide anecdotal experiences as to how they grew up.

Through the research I conducted, I found that the American Dream in the context of politics serves to be an interesting one in terms of how individuals utilize it. It was eye-opening to see the American Dream used as a campaign strategy, which was something I never noticed before. It opened me up to a new perspective on the American Dream. Through Fisher’s text, the American Dream could be seen to be used as a campaign strategy by both Nixon and McGovern.

I could create the new argument of the American Dream in politics by saying how the concept of the American Dream would surpass actual political systems. This topic intrigues me as I would plan to explore what makes the American Dream a universal topic. I may have mentioned it above to be an everlasting, timeless concept. I see this to be true for it passed the Roman Republic and would continue to be represented in all eras thus far. The Mandela effect may be applied to this concept. The Mandela effect being something that would resurface every odd-some years or so. However, the American Dream would be a constant thing that everybody would think of and eventually pursue throughout their lifetime.

[donmichaelpoyaoan]

Blog #9: Star-Spangled Sausage

Star-Spangled Sausage (or banner to be exact) comes to mind when reading the title “Twilight’s Gleaming” in chapter 1 of Sandra L. Hanson’s and John Kenneth White’s THE AMERICAN DREAM IN THE 21ST CENTURY. 

The full title being “The American Dream and the Ends of Republics” might refer to the change of the American Dream once the Roman republic ended or the switch from one political party to the other in terms of presidency. As you may know, this title - along with others - were thought upon in class and these were the conclusions we came to from this one. The chapter would be specific to Jim Cullen  as he would delve into what the American Dream meant to him.

With the background of the chapter being introduced, I will now identify some claims made by Cullen. Let us begin with how Cullen states how the American Dream is not for everyone. Rather, it is for those that “live in the United States of America”(22). This creates relevance to what Cullen thinks of the American Dream and in some way would define him as an author. He quotes a song that uses the term “everybody” to jumpstart his claim pertaining to the American Dream not being rated E for “everybody.” Cullen finds living in the states important for this is the land where one and all can pursue what ever it is they wish.  

Cullen, with his sparked interest of history, would go on and connect the American Dream to this specialization. He claims that there are indeed multiple dreams within the American Dream, like “the Dream of upward mobility”(24) and so on. This made me think about Project two and how Walter Fisher’s scholarly journal reflects what Cullen said on this page. Cullen says how there is no one meaning to the American Dream and continues with the complexities of the multiple Dreams. We all dream, so just by realizing what dreams can do may empower us as individuals to pursue them in accordance with our lifestyle.

With this being said, Jim Cullen’s part of the book would make me raise some questions regarding the aforementioned. For one, I would like to know how the American Dream would work in other parts of the world. I would like to know if third-world countries experience what the concept of the American Dream is and if they have the possibility of achieving it in their relative place outside the U.S. Now that I am deep in thought of the topic, I believe that what Cullen is trying to say is that America is the land of opportunity and therefore, it would be easier to achieve what people want while here in the states. That being the case, why is it easier to accomplish goals here rather than in other parts of the world. Before things go sideways, what concerns me in the next claim is if Cullen believes in the materialistic or moralistic. Intrigue would cause me to ask this question but further analysis of Fisher’s research paper would help me to understand the credibility and stance of Cullen. Not to be misunderstood, just one perspective of him does not define him as a person which what I think some people may be at fault.

Anyhow, have a nice day.

[donmichaelpoyaoan]

Blog #8: $$$pooky

As we prepare ourselves for the festivities of the fall season, there is a lot to be kept in mind as to how much we budget into things like decorations, costumes, and food/drink for parties we may attend.

Now, money comes into the mind of an individual when dealing with knowing what they want. Thus, the principle of greed is incited as they get what they want, and not necessarily need. Likewise, the thought of what people want versus what they need is a moral dilemma within itself. These views would be discussed by USC professor Walter Fisher as he goes into detail of the two American dreams proposed by presidential candidates in the 1970s.

The research paper introduces the 1972 election between Presidential candidates Nixon and Mcgovern. Both would have a take on the American dream as the way they perceive it to be. Basically, they would have two very conflicting views that Fisher would say that both is needed to have the American nation survive. Nixon’s American dream would be one based in the realm of wealth that relates to “puritan work ethic and relates to the values of effort, persistence.” Materialistic needs is what makes the world go around. This would contrast Mcgovern’s view of the American dream that would support morals, and values that people would deem to be “unrealistic.” In today’s world, both views are expressed in separate areas of study, but why not combine the two to unite the world as one. Why would people have to focus on wealth to make sure their moralistic values are then followed? Can it not be the other way around for an individual to have morals before getting rich?

Before I get too ahead of myself, another claim that Fisher would include in his research paper would be how Nixon employed his assertiveness of the American dream he wanted to convey to his nation as President. Nixon would not only have incumbency advantage over Mcgovern, but utilizing his office “strengthened his identification with the materialistic myth. Incumbency advantage is really something that should not be recognize in the government we have today. The president would have to really mess up in order to lose their spot but the incumbency advantage ensures that as long as their performance and duties were mediocre, they would have another term. Mcgovern would not be able to get far in the election for Nixon also had an adequate amount of government spending to support the “Reelect the President” theme. Mcgovern would spend as much as 18 million on his campaign, which was only have of what Nixon had, 36 million. It was essential for Nixon to push forward his cause of uniting America for as long as he could rally up enough supporters to give in, he would have a second term, which indeed, he did. Adapting this theory into today’s society, this would be different. Like I said, the incumbency advantage should not be a major factor in a president’s re-election for there are definitely not enough people that would want to waste another 8 years of their life under the same government. Why would presidents have to focus on wealth of the country and not the moralistic values. I assume that some presidents must have bought themselves into power, and if not them their officials. The wealthy of society rule the country and it is the myth of Mcgovern that they are lacking. We, as Americans need to make America great with the ideals that started it from the beginning.

Cheers to PSL’s (Pumpkin Spice Lattes!)

[joshpeck]

my friend had her senior portraits done in a hotdog suit

[donmichaelpoyaoan]

(via https://open.spotify.com/track/34c4wiTY2MQTyVWS2Nuz9u)

have a nice day

[donmichaelpoyaoan]

Blog #6: Smort Sausage

Hello one and hello all sausages! The academic journal by Teresa Thonney was quite the extensive read as I could not define some of the words used without context. Thonney would include a significant amount of information based on how to write academically. She basically set the rules of writing with this piece that included over three pages of reference! I am going to admit that I was scared to even pull the student reader out of my backpack, but I MUSTARD up the courage to write this blog post!

BA DUM TSSS

So, let’s start with the structure of the piece! I thoroughly enjoyed how Thonney would make the reading a tad bit easier when ordering the rules of writing numerically with bold, headed text! had that not been there, I would not be in this class today! No, I’m just being a bloody sausage myself aren’t I? All right, before I go off on another sausage tangent Thonney includes 6 things that academic writers use in their writing, which would instruct teachers to influence their students to say. I have to admit Mrs. Flew, I have not an idea how you make the transition into college from high a good one! The fact that Thonney even has a header titled “Suggestions and Conclusion” tells me that she had synthesized information that I might not have caught previously and that is a really good thing.

Moving on to the academic language. Thonney uses “lexical” and “qualifiers” along with other examples loaded language in the text and thank goodness the dictionary, and more importantly context clues, were there to guide me for without them I would have been lost at some points. One word being “discourse” was quite a word as it was only in the title. Oh so many internal conflicts when knowing that it is a bourgeois word for written or spoken communication!

Alrighty, now let’s go with the way Thonney wrote this masterpiece. This really blew my previous writing out of the water, which is understandable seeing as though she is the department lead at a college in walla-walla-washington. Oh lord, she includes her own research and just going through the sources she used hurt my brain. So many references, I just cannot believe how when skimming through the text at first glance there were a multitude of parenthetical marks. She also includes scholarly grammar, as there are distinct paragraphs that lay out examples with the use of the colon. If I were to compare more of my chicken-scratch writing to hers, I would feel so minute in the world of academic discourse.

Thonney does not play around and should most definitely not play around as much when writing these blogs. This was such a difficult writing, yet I enjoyed it as much as I do when eating hot dogs. She is very direct and cuts to the chase and the text became an instruction manual for writing whatever it is in college, in this case being the Chomsky essay. Hopefully I can KETCHUP to the lexical language of Miss, no Professor, no Master Thonney when it comes to writing.

BA DUM TSSS

[donmichaelpoyaoan]

Blog#5: Chomsky

oh yeah, about chumpsky

I meant Chomsky. Any who, there is much to say in such a short period of time but if I had to be expressive of my view on Chomsky it would be that “Inequality is really unprecedented.” As much as I would hate to say it, this man has the talent of making our America seem like a pile of dung. Solidarity is attacked, nothing is accomplished, the rich only get richer. I could go on and on but the point I'm trying to make with this post is that he uses primary source documents as his support and as if this was not enough evidence he does so with claims that are beyond what I could identify. . . .

[donmichaelpoyaoan]

Blog #4: Ketchup or Mustard?

Oh boy I am just going to take an idea and run with it on this one.

The Requiem for the American Dream by Noam Chomsky would definitely stir some controversy in a world where argument is the key to absolution. The arguments he makes are quite the contrary from Rebecca Jones as he does not hesitate to directly engage the reader in his point of view while providing primary source documents to further prove “The 10 principals of Concentration of Wealth & Power.”

Chomsky’s first page with actual text starts with the Great Depression and how the American dream is, for the most part, a dream and not reality. It is a dream in which it mythically exists for many in the USA, and has become harder for people to reach as their grasp is like that of Michelangelo’s creation of Adam fresco. The dream is just outside the realm of possibility of the minority majority, which is opposed to the super-wealthy minority. Not to be confusing, but the majority of the population is made up of minorities, or the working class, while the actual minority are the rich people who are deemed to control the socioeconomic world. This is the way the world is run, and the harsh reality ensues when social mobility becomes a game of chutes and ladders until “It’s all collapsed.”

That is so of the American Dream, an idea that is so far ahead of itself in the eyes of the worker that perceives it to be the end goal.

In the text, Chomsky would include the structure of the formal constitutional system that included a powerful Senate, a more representative House of Representatives, and an administrative executive. The system would seem to be straightforward as I remember learning about it in my AP Government class let school year. Little did I know that “it was designed to prevent the danger of democracy.” It was made so that those in the Senate would not be elected, but rather selected from the wealthy men at the time.

This would lead to the controversy of either reducing democracy or reducing inequality. The points of views portrayed by both Madison and Aristotle envisioned that men of their era would be capable of ruling with the political system. The “war metaphor” from Jones’ article would appear with the reducing of one or the other. Either way, the argument set for by these men would lay down what would be the beginning of our country. I find this interesting. Along with being problematic. Also a challenging concept to understand.

My first impression of the book, as we discussed in class, would be how the American Dream was once a dream that many got to live, but eventually “died” over time due to what the book would entail. It is a remembrance of what once was. Just from the title, one can sense the gloominess that is brought about. Not only that, but the table of contents and the principles mentioned earlier would prompt a laborious task for Chomsky to explain.

This man is one of many wonders and as we read on, hopefully we can see his perspective for what it is and not choose one condiment over the other!

[donmichaelpoyaoan]

Blog #3: Pro Vs(ausage). Con

Hello fellow classmates and avid Palm Springs attendee! I hope you all had an amazing Labor Day weekend and enjoyed eating hot dog sausages at any gathering that was held in that period of time.

In lieu of such nationalistic views, I must say that argument is used by a society that “values democracy and equity” (64). This quote comes from University of Tennessee English professor Rebecca Jones’ publication “Finding the Good Argument OR Wh Bother with Logic.” The need for a “good argument” would call for logic, or the lack thereof in many arguments that we may find ourselves in today. Pressing issues are to be resolved only when both sides of an argument now what it is that they are arguing about and are passionate about the cause that they believe in. It takes a lot to pursue one side and not think about the other. The use of counterarguments provides for a solution to that specific problem for I think that in order to debate a crucial topic one must understand both sides of it and be open to multiple perspectives. Otherwise, opponents would just be ignorant as information from the counterpart comes in one ear and out through the other. An example being news shows when “prepared speeches are hurled across the long distances” (62) rather than actually engaging in the skirmish to resolve the conflict. This metaphorical war provides for two sides and no middle ground, which only means that progress would be at a standstill until a compromise is made. Like Jones stated, news shows would be considered as a “four ring circus” where the host as analogous to the ringmaster and the other three political advocates would be the lion, trapeze artist, and fat lady who sings until the show is done. I’m not saying that it does not make for good media, but there is a shift of focus from actual politics to entertainment. The video of Jon Stewart on Crossfire would basically replicate what I said in actuality for he calls out the hosts for putting politicians on edge with their ethics in the way they deliver their questions. How do you call that for “fake news?”

Alternatively, Jones may be appealing to her primary audience of first-year university writing students with certain devices that I have seen throughout reading the introduction. At first glance, one may notice that the diction used in the publication is similar to that of a first-year college student’s vocabulary. Her reading would well be in the range of what we are capable of understanding due to prior knowledge or context. I could tell that she would try to make the transitional period from high school to college a great one. Along with diction is the use of a political cartoon, which in my case shows how she can portray her argument with a cat fight. Terminology is implied to the point where a basic human being would be able to discern what the main idea of the text is about: argument. One last thing that Jones might have used to appeal to us would be the use of the television sitcom The Brady Bunch in relation to our age and generation where “Netflix and Chill” was relevant for a time. More like “Hulu & Commitment” if you would have asked me!

Well, I would like to thank all two of you(if not more) who took the time to read this saucy sausage post and have a wonderful rest of your day & night!

DISCLAIMER: I accidentally erased my first version of this blog post so hopefully I can get by with this new and improved one 

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[donmichaelpoyaoan]

Blog #2: Sausage on

Hello my fellow colleagues and welcome the my second blog of the semester!

As we all slug our way through life, what is it that seems hard for you to attain? Would you say its love, or money, or food? Well, I can’t help you there because thats for another blog, but if you said the American Dream then you are in the right place. In the anthology ”The Making and Persistence of the American Dream” by John Kenneth White and Sandra L. Hanson, they pull from a poll saying “Do you believe that the American Dream is as attainable today as it was eight years ago?” The majority taken from the poll believe that this is so and if you rhetorically responded saying that the American Dream was hard to attain, congratulations! You are in the majority.

This particular statistic struck me to be concerning due to the fact that it is getting harder to get something (American Sausage) that was so easily accomplished years before. I must say that it is a tad bit foreboding in a society where the population is steadily on he rise, yet it is getting more difficult to maintain a decent life. These complications just lead to socioeconomic turmoil that I think cannot be resolved in the near future. 

In today’s society, the American Dream is one of many dreams and the fact that it’s getting harder to get somewhere in life intimidates other struggling college students like ourselves. The quote used in the text relates to my life in a way that I want to actually make it. If you haven’t already read my perception of the American Dream I encourage you to read my first blog to get the ball rolling. Essentially, I want to make it big in life and follow the path that my parents paved for me and my sister. Building off of what they sacrificed in their own life to make mine better really hit home for me. The fact that they knew that life was going to get harder as time went on was probably the best decision that the ever made. In retrospect, times have been better and making America great again is still possible. Regarding to the quote, it is significant because it seems like people have lost hope or motivation to reach what still can be reached today. Sure problems may arise but the fact that the mentality of not so easily achieving the lavish life would damper the mood. Sometimes people need to brighten up a bit and believe in themselves because if one person can make it, why can't you? I know that I am going on a bit of rant but that is the way the sausage is made sometimes.  

Pertaining to the real world, many have not seen the light at the end of the tunnel. I don't mean to get religious but God said the he is the way and those who follow him may find the path to salvation. Faith, or belief in the unbelievable is what this world need sometimes in order to make it far in life. Sometimes you need a little push like the squeezing mechanism for hot dogs to reach your destination. Be content with who you are and don’t let life beat your buns.

[donmichaelpoyaoan]

Blog #1 My American Dream

This is the American Dream.

Hello! The photo essay American Dreams presented by Ian Brown depicts the many walks of life all in one convenient place. He delicately facilitates what ordinary, who are not so ordinary, people want in their life. Whether it be change to make the world a better place or ideologies about living free, growth is stressed among the multitude of letters. The strive to want something is the uniting force, like the combining agent for hot dogs, that make the American Dream come together. 

On the topic of American Dreams, one must understand that there is perspective to each person in the article and cannot be cubistic, or one-sided, toward a single group of people. Brown’s work is credible as he includes that there are as many as 300 people he photographed. The fact that the list goes on and on provides a plethora of views for people to interpret in their own ways. Individuality is an aspect to what those want in life as we all come from different backgrounds and although you may know names, you do not know the story.

The way information is shown in the article relates to the real world by showing these perspectives on the American Dream. The struggle is real for many of these people depicted in the essay. Many of them focus on growth, as Skylar Kergil plans to “never stop growing” in his dream for a successful gender swap. Mary and Tom Cory experience growth in their farm in Iowa as they pursue their dreams through keen physical, mental, and spiritual health. Along with the Cory couple in Iowa is Hector Salamenca, a Mexico native that has a dream of growing his communities influence on immigration by running for Office.

Don’s American Dream is to prosper in life, like how the Oscar Mayer Wiener does to American BBQs in the summer. (Yes, I did just refer to myself in the third person.) Ever since the debut of the 1965 commercial, the Oscar Mayer Company would be a staple for many consumers up to this day! The same would go for other companies as they would sprout from the same growth accomplished by Skylar, the Cory’s, and Hector. I really want to make my parents proud and show them that what they endured to get to where they are now is not wasted. I would relate closely to the supposed Star Wars fanatics, Justin and Audra Ferrell. If there would be anyone in the world that I could use to explain their situation, it would be skateboarding youtuber John Hill, whose slogan is Progress Daily. Again, growth is the recurring theme that I see when it comes to the American Dream, regardless of how little that growth may actually be.

On that note, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my 1st ever blog post and hope you enjoyed making yours as I did mine!

Goodbye! 

P.S. Did you catch the HOT DOG?